-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Within minutes of the news of his death , the backlash started .

In the comments section of his CNN.com obituary , on Twitter feeds , in blog posts .

Nelson Mandela should n't be revered as a civil rights icon , the statements screamed : He should be exposed for what he is : A communist . A terrorist . A racist .

To be sure , Mandela ca n't be neatly grouped with Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King , Jr. . Unlike them , he was n't always the pacifist he was known for in his later life .

But should that be grounds for such bile-spewing vitriol ?

We take a look at the three most common sentiments in these online accusations and put them in context .

CONTENTION 1 :

Nelson Mandela was a communist

What they 're saying :

`` Before you go all wet and runny over Mandela , remember he was a communist , and he never changed his views . ''

`` So Nelson Mandela was a communist who supported Saddam Hussein and befriended Gadaffi apparently ... ''

What 's the basis :

Mandela was branded a communist by the white apartheid government , which made it a crime to be one . And it was a label the United States was all too content to accept .

The Cold War between the United States and the Russian Soviet Union was in full swing . The Soviets had constructed the Berlin Wall just months before , and the world was dividing up into opposing camps -- allies of the United States or allies of the Soviet Union and China .

This included many African nations .

South Africa 's government came down on the side of the West -- and communist or not , Mandela was squarely on the other side .

What 's the truth :

Mandela 's close association with Marxists goes back at least to the 1940s , when he was enrolled in law school .

He began a life-long friendship with Joe Slovo , `` an ardent communist , '' the anti-apartheid icon wrote in his autobiography `` Long Walk to Freedom . ''

Mandela described Slovo as of the people , `` without whom I would have accomplished very little . ''

A watershed moment tightly bonded Mandela to Slovo and other communist allies .

Police gunned down 69 unarmed protesters in the town of Sharpville in March 1960 . Then the government banned the communist party and the African National Congress , which fought for the freedom of black South Africans .

With Slovo and other Marxists , he co-founded the militia movement Umkhonto we Sizwe . It 's meaning : `` Spear of the Nation . ''

On December 16 , 1961 , the group carried out its first attacks on government installations and handed out leaflets announcing its existence .

But was Mandela a dyed-in-the-wool communist ?

Not really , believes South African historian Sampie Terreblanche .

`` You must understand it all against the apartheid struggle . ''

Mandela found the ANC too tame and had begun to push for a violent struggle in the 1940s , when he headed its youth league , the former professor of economics at Stellenbosch University said . The communists were for the use of violence , and Terreblanche believes it led to the alliance .

After his release from prison , Mandela made some high-profile appearances with communist leaders . He visited Fidel Castro in Cuba .

And to commemorate the relaunch of South Africa 's communist party in 1990 , he gave a speech .

But he also made a point of distancing his own party . `` The ANC is not a communist Party , '' he said .

CONTENTION 2 :

Nelson Mandela was a terrorist

What they 're saying :

`` It 's amazing we forget he was a terrorist ''

`` Please explain how it is racist to point out that biographical articles about Mandela are leaving out his terrorist actions pre-1991 . ''

What 's the basis :

The United States government placed Mandela on a terror watch list , where he stayed until 2008 -- long after his term as President of South Africa , and even longer after his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize .

He was placed on it because of his group 's militant fight against apartheid .

At the time that Umkhonto we Sizwe carried out its first attacks , Mandela was at its helm .

The next year , in 1962 , he left for Morocco and Ethiopia , where he secretly studied guerrilla warfare .

When Mandela returned home later that year , he was arrested and charged with illegal exit of the country and incitement to strike .

Undeterred , Umkhonto we Sizwe built a militia and in 1963 made plans to start a civil war .

Police intercepted the plan and arrested Mandela and other ANC leaders . Mandela received a sentence of life in prison .

What 's the truth :

It 's true that Mandela once believed that civil disobedience was not enough to vanquish racism and apartheid . He felt he had to decide between the better of two evils -- submit or fight .

He may not have been directly behind the attacks , said Hermann Giliomee , a historian from South Africa . `` He was on the run , so I do n't think he had time for the planning on this . ''

Giliomee finds the 1963 plan amateurish , not exactly the design of a master terrorist . `` I think it 's a very naÃ ¯ ve plan with very little outlook for success , '' the former professor of political science at the University of Cape Town said .

Mandela changed his views on violence during his 27 years of incarceration .

The rebel transformed into a pacifist .

`` As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom , I knew if I did n't leave my bitterness and hatred behind , I 'd still be in prison , '' Mandela said after he was freed .

CONTENTION 3 :

Nelson Mandela was a racist

What they 're saying :

`` How convenient that we choose to ignore that he once sang , ` Kill white people ' ''

`` If apartheid was racist toward blacks , Mandela was equally racist towards whites ''

What 's the basis :

Umkhonto we Sizwe beat the war drum against the `` white supremacy '' and `` the white state . '' Its members often sang a song called `` Bring Me My Machine Gun . ''

What 's the truth :

Though he despised white minority rule that kept the black majority down , he did n't dislike whites .

`` He was rather strong against racism , '' Terreblanche said . `` The day before he was sent to Robben Island , he made a speech in parliament that he was against all forms of racism . ''

He was prepared to die for non-racialism , the historian said .

Joe Slovo , one of Mandela 's best friends , was white -- as were many other revolutionaries who joined him in the militant group .

`` Umkhonto we Sizwe is a new , independent body , formed by Africans , It includes in its ranks South Africans of all races , '' the group said in its manifesto .

Mandela has long espoused the way of reconciliation and called for there to be no racial violence in retribution for apartheid .

In transitioning from the segregationist regime to a non-racial democracy , he partnered closely with his white predecessor , former President Frederik Willem de Klerk , who shared the Nobel Peace Prize with him .

At a sports match in 1995 , as President , Mandela made a gesture of support to white South Africans that drew gasps .

Rugby was the dominant sport of white South Africans of Dutch heritage -- Afrikaners -- and was reviled by blacks .

During a world championship match against New Zealand , Mandela walked onto the pitch wearing the jersey of his team 's captain . The scene inspired the 2009 Hollywood movie `` Invictus '' directed by Clint Eastwood .

The crowd began chanting his name . They were almost all white .

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A backlash poured in against Mandela 's positive eulogies

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Detractors accused him of being a Communist , terrorist , racist

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There is some truth to some of the claims

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Mandela had a close association with Communists and cofounded a militant group